


A Sprinkle of Sage

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Food as a Metaphor for Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Caleb learns to cook, and Kanan never forgets.
Relationships: Depa Billaba & Kanan Jarrus, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 14
Kudos: 74
Collections: Eat Drink and Make Merry 2020





	A Sprinkle of Sage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inquisitor_tohru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/gifts).



The cauldron bubbled with an unhealthy sheen covering the top of the liquid. Caleb made a face. His initial response was that he would refuse to eat it. His more measured reply came out instead: "Are you sure this is edible?"

Big-Mouth laughed at him. The others only smirked or rolled their eyes. Depa stirred the pot.

"It's fine." Her tone brooked no other objections. Caleb knew when he'd been silenced, and meekly accepted his bowl of stew when it was finally ladled out to them all. He played with the spoon, poking at the bits floating to the surface. He'd seen Grey bring back the animal he'd shot, and he'd watched, eyes wide, as Styles had butchered it efficiently, chopping up the small pieces of meat for the pot. He'd been sent to forage with Stance for herbs to season it, and Stance had even dug up some tubers to add a hearty carbohydrate boost to fortify the broken up rations packs they'd dumped into the pot.

In theory, he knew what every piece of this was. In reality, Caleb eyed the stew with deep suspicion.

"It ain't poison, kid," said Big-Mouth.

Caleb glared at him for the nickname, and shoved his spoon in unhappily, digging for a piece of tuber. The herbs added a complex flavor he'd never tasted before as he chewed slowly. He recognized the flavor of the rations inside the meal. A single bite of the meat, taken gingerly between his teeth, yielded a strong, unpleasant taste that he swallowed quickly without chewing. This got him another round of laughter from the clones.

After dinner, Depa tasked Stance with the washing up and informed Caleb it was time for practice. His belly rumbling as it tried to digest the strange food, he joined her, igniting his lightsaber by her side.

"Ready stance," she instructed, and he obeyed. As they moved through the motions, she said, "You didn't like your dinner."

"It tasted strange."

"I imagine it did. Every meal you have ever eaten has been prepared for you in the Temple kitchens, or aboard the ship."

There was no point in arguing, although he recalled several days in recent memory where they'd eaten nothing but protein sticks and rations bars. "Yes."

"When I was your age...."

Caleb let out a sigh, which turned out to be louder than he'd anticipated. Depa shot him a firm look.

"As I was saying, when I was your age, Master Windu taught me how to prepare meals for both of us, so that we could survive readily in harsh conditions with or without supplies." She slid into another position, and he copied her movements. "It is time you learned how to feed yourself. It's a useful skill, especially when we are bivouacking in the rough. You will make tomorrow's dinner for our campsite."

Horror struck him. "Master, I don't know how."

"I understand. I will teach you, and the men will help. Our troops have had to learn to fend for themselves in places like this. You will be a better leader if you can do the same."

Caleb looked forward to tomorrow, and saw only another messy animal carcass and too-tiny plants in the pot. The clones would tease him. The food would taste awful.

"Yes, Master Billaba."

* * *

Another day, another Rebellion base. Kanan had lost track of how many they'd set up, and how many they'd had to flee with the Empire hot on their tails.

"You should take him and go," Hera said in between moves. He didn't have to see her face to register the deep worry as she watched Jacen playing with Chopper. He kissed away enough frown lines at night to know they had taken up permanent residence on her forehead.

"Maybe when he's weaned," Kanan had said, pushing off the decision. Their son had been on solid foods for months now, and the excuses had changed. "Maybe when he's walking. Maybe after he starts to talk. Maybe when he's 'fresher trained." He wasn't leaving Hera, and she knew it, and she worried, wondering if this base would be their last stand, if this time, they wouldn't get away.

For now, the base was safe, and Kanan was a little bored. He packed Jacen up in his wheeled buggy, the one he'd rigged up to give at least one of them a nice view of their surroundings, and took him for a walk. Out in the open, sounds and smells overtook him, leading him away from the bustle of the base and towards the open fields surrounding them. Familiar scents embraced his nose as they walked through the high grasses stretching out this way. He was reminded of Lothal, and Atollon, and other worlds long past him.

Jacen made an inquisitive noise. Words were still hit and miss with him. He had "Mama" and "Daddy" most of the time, but most other words mushed into burbles only Kanan could translate. "What do you see?" he asked Jacen now.

Another babble. Kanan reached out with his senses, and felt the shapes around them in the Force. No dangers approached that he could detect, only patches of grasses and shrubs.

Scent was a primal sense. He'd been taught young that all species developed that sense early, and it still drove the hind brain whenever offered control. He smelled a deep, herbal scent, and he was back on Kardoa beside a cookfire.

He bent, and started to gather small handfuls.

Hours later, Hera returned to the ship. "That smells wonderful," she said, joining Kanan in the galley. "What is it?"

"A little something I put together." He'd run the herbs through the ship's computer to check for poisons or reactions among any of their team's species, and it had come up clean. Now the stew on the stove filled the whole ship with a soothing aroma. "The kid likes it. I let him help add ingredients to the pot."

"The kid eats dirt when we're not looking," she reminded Kanan, but accepted a taste from his spoon. "That's good. When did you learn to cook?"

He remembered the first burned cauldron, and the second, and Depa's patient lessons, and the gentle ribbing from the clones who ate his meals anyway until he'd finally figured out what he was doing. He looked forward to showing Jacen the same things when he was a little older and thus less inclined to toss in handfuls of mud for flavor.

"I'll tell you all about it over dinner."


End file.
